The Reaction

I’ve been struggling with our culture’s reactionary shift for a few years 1. People no longer respond to thoughts, input, evidence, or story. They react to it, leading to a growing polarization in nearly every sphere of existence. So much so people who don’t wish to get caught up in the reactionary spirit of the age are often condemned as the real problem.

It’s a rough time to be a moderate.

Pointing out the dangerously immature temperament and lack of qualifications our current President possesses does not mean I want America weak and Christians persecuted. It means I think he was a terrible candidate for office who stoked people to a frenzy by leveraging fear, mistrust, and anger. These are things a demagogue does.

Pointing out the hyperbole which is increasingly prevalent in protesting echo chamber doesn’t mean I’m just going to remain passive while the Trump machine eviscerates free speech 2, calls into question the reality of climate change through the Chair of the EPA 3, and throws out “alternative facts 4”. It means I don’t think the best way to counter hateful hyperbole is with fearful hyperbole.

Honestly, I feel like an Ent. I’m not on either of the sides our current culture narrative forces upon me because I’m fairly certain they aren’t on “my side 5.”

Just a quick note, I’m using “reactionary” in a non-technical sense. On the political spectrum “Reactionary” is the far right, I’m using the word in a much more general sense. ↩

It seems like a modern trend (though I always wonder if these modern trends are really that modern). I think it echos “haters” online, whereby we both have these groups of people who just want to tear people down (if they are part of our group or not) and at the same time, we have the reaction where we perceive any critique as being a “hater” and so we are justified to completely ignore them (even if they are actually offering us a constructive critique). Both help feed this cycle of “you’re with us or against us”